Did Meghan Markle's Mesh Engagement Dress Break Royal Protocol? Here's How She's Toeing The Line

What you wear is important — especially if you're a royal. But there's more pressure than just making sure your shoes match your outfit. The royal family has a strict set of rules they must follow when making appearances in the public eye. After wowing fashion lovers with her white coat and pricey handbag, Meghan Markle wore a mesh-topped dress for her engagement photos that actually isn't against royal fashion rules. It wouldn't be her first time toeing the sartorial line, even if it were though.

Markle has made some serious changes to her closet since dating Prince Harry, but she's hasn't pushed her love for trends to the side. One look at the 36-year-old's Instagram page will show just how much the woman loves her clothing and accessories. So it comes as no surprise that she's bringing her fashion forward looks into the royal family.

What is surprising is her choice of a mesh and ruffled gown for her engagement photos. It's not exactly the most traditional outfit to remember this time in her life and is a fashion risk to say the least. After looking into the fashion rules, Markle's outfit doesn't seem to break royal protocol.

That is, unless there's a certain mesh rule in the footnotes that no one knows about. According to previous Bustle coverage, the royal family is not allowed to show cleavage and must never go bare legged. Seeing as there is a lining on both her mesh top and bottom, it looks like the outfit is all cleared. Of course, that doesn't mean that she'll be showing up on Christmas day in something this risque.

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Markle has only been officially in the family for less than a month and has already made quite the sartorial statement. She's already worn a jacket and carried a handbag that instantly sold out online. According to Harper's Bizarre, her Strathberry handbag was sold for four times the original price on eBay. Bottom line: you might want to snag something mesh to ring in the new year.

If her engagement photo gown was breaking a fashion rule, it wouldn't be her first time. Despite only being a soon-to-be official member of the royal family for less than a month, she has already went against protocol. According to the Daily Mail, Markle didn't wear stockings with her dress when she announced her engagement to the world. That's a big royal fashion no-no.

"You never see a royal without their nude stockings. Meghan, from what I can see from the engagement photographs, it doesn't look like she was wearing tights or stockings," royal expert Victoria Arbiter told INSIDER. "I would say that's really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the Queen requires."

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While Middleton has been done a great job of following royal fashion protocol, not all member of the family did so. According to Hello Magazine, Princess Diana never wore gloves or hats in public — even when she was supposed to. Markle could be following in her sartorial rebellious footsteps by not wearing stockings under her dress.

"[Princess Diana] abandoned the royal protocol of wearing gloves because she liked to hold hands when visiting people or shake hands and have direct contact." Eleri Lynn, who curated Kensington Palace's new exhibition, Diana: Her Fashion Story told People. "She also stopped wearing hats because she said, 'You can't cuddle a child in a hat."

Or maybe Markle is following in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth. The Queen is almost always seen in a bright color or pattern, having been quoted saying "If I wore beige, nobody would know who I am." It's possible that Markle is doing the same with her fashion forward ensembles.

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No matter why the soon-to-be-bride to be chose the outfit that she did, it's nice to see that she hasn't lost her love for fashion. Every person brings something different to the table with their wardrobe. For Markle, it's her fashion risks.